Family Ethnic-Racial Socialization and Peer Group Diversity in Early Adolescence

• In Event: Ethnic-Racial Socialization in Multiple Contexts in Adolescence: Families, Peers & Schools

Abstract

Ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) encompasses the processes through which people acquire racial knowledge (Hughes et al., 2016a). Existing research documents the types of messages parents convey to children and their relation to youths’ functioning (Priest et al., 2014); however, there is limited work on how family ERS relates to youths’ peer relationships. Evidence suggests ERS is related to racial preferences in youths’ friendships (Sinclair et al., 2004), but the association may differ for White students and students of color (Hughes et al., 2016b). In early adolescence, friendships take on greater significance and race/ethnicity often becomes a salient dimension of social identity (Williams et al., 2019). More work is needed to further our understanding of links between ERS and peer relations during this period.
Data are from a mixed-methods study of students (N = 204; 57% white, 53% female) attending two ethnically diverse middle schools in the Southeast. Surveys collected in the fall and spring of 7th grade were used to explore the association between ERS and peer group diversity, and test whether it varies for White students and students of color. We further explore the ERS-peer diversity association using excerpts of interviews in which students (n = 73; 44% white, 59% female) shared how they talk about race with their family.
Students indicated how often their parents engaged in five ERS items (e.g., “talked to you about race”) on a four-point scale ranging from “never” to “often” (Mfall= 2.29; Mspring= 2.40). Students also listed their close friends in their grade. Friendships nominations were used to calculate Simpson’s diversity index, representing the probability that any two randomly selected friends would be from different racial/ethnic groups; lower scores indicate less diverse friend groups (Mfall= .41; Mspring= .40).
In regression models controlling for school, gender, and a dummy code for “White”, we examined ERS as a concurrent predictor of peer group diversity in the fall and spring. There was a positive association in the spring (b = 09, p < .01). We then examined if the associations differed between White students and students of color in the spring (b = -.10, p = .09). Simple slopes analysis showed that the ERS-diversity association was significant for students of color (b = .15, p < .01) but not for White students (b = .05, p = .22) (Figure 1).
We sorted students into four groups based on their ERS and peer diversity scores (above/below the mean). Students of color were overrepresented in the high ERS/high diversity group, while White students were overrepresented in the low ERS/low diversity group (χ2 = 13.95, df = 3, p < .01). Table 1 documents patterns in students’ reports of family conversations about race across groups.
This study suggests family ERS has implications for students’ social relationships during a critical period of development. The non-significant association between ERS and peer group diversity for White students may be explained, in part, by the lack of intentional ERS in the family context. Implications for families and schools will be discussed.

Authors

• Joanna Lee Williams, Rutgers University - New Brunswick
  Presenting Author

• Haley E. Johnson, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Miray Seward, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Andrea Negrete, Wesleyan University
  Non-Presenting Author